Writer: Carolyn Cunningham, for the AJC
Published April 18, 2022
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) and the Georgia Cities Foundation (GCF) recently named Clarkston as one of the freshman communities in the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative’s 2022 program.
Selected cities will be assisted in developing durable, local partnerships to address their most important economic and quality-of-life issues.
“Attracting and retaining talent is critical for Georgia to prosper in a knowledge-based economy, and placemaking can serve as an effective economic development tool to draw talented workers and entrepreneurs,” said GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson in a statement.
Assistance will be given by the GMA, GCF, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Georgia Conservancy, Electric Cities of Georgia and Georgia Power.
Each city team is comprised of representatives from city and/or county governments and a broad group from the public and private sectors in their immediate community.
Largely modeled after the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing program, the collaborative consists of a two-year program with two retreats per year - the first one being online on May 5.
During the retreats, participants will receive training from expert presenters, facilitated work sessions and networking opportunities with other communities.
This collaborative seeks to bring or restore prosperity through the establishment of a community and an economic development strategy.
These strategies will capitalize on local assets to set up healthy, appealing and unique places for people to live, work and play.
For more information about the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative, contact Sadie Krawczyk at 678-528-0938 or skrawczyk@gacities.com.
